II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4027 

To amend the Federal Power Act to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission to issue permits for the construction and modification of 

national interest high-impact transmission facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2024 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Power Act to authorize the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission to issue permits for the 

construction and modification of national interest highimpact transmission facilities, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Streamlining 

5 Powerlines Essential to Electric Demand and Reliability 

6 Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘SPEED and Reliability Act of 

7 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SITING OF NATIONAL INTEREST HIGH-IMPACT 

2 TRANSMISSION FACILITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 216 of the Federal Power 

4 Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(l) SITING OF NATIONAL INTEREST HIGH-IMPACT

7 TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

9 ‘‘(A) BULK-POWER SYSTEM.—The term 

10 ‘bulk-power system’ has the meaning given the 

11 term in section 215(a). 

12 ‘‘(B) LOCAL AUTHORITY.—The term ‘local 

13 authority’ means a unit of local government, in14 cluding a county, a municipality, a city, a town, 

15 a township, and any other political subdivision 

16 created by or pursuant to State law. 

17 ‘‘(C) NATIONAL INTEREST HIGH-IMPACT

18 TRANSMISSION FACILITY.—The term ‘national 

19 interest high-impact transmission facility’ 

20 means a transmission facility designated as a 

21 national interest high-impact transmission facil22 ity under paragraph (2). 

23 ‘‘(D) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.—The 

24 term ‘outer Continental Shelf’ has the meaning 

25 given the term in section 2 of the Outer Conti26 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331). 


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1 ‘‘(E) PROJECT SPONSOR.—The term 

2 ‘project sponsor’ means an entity seeking to 

3 construct, own, or operate a national interest 

4 high-impact transmission facility. 

5 ‘‘(F) PROJECT STATE.—The term ‘project 

6 State’ means a State in which there is located 

7 or is proposed to be located any portion of a 

8 transmission facility designated or sought to be 

9 designated as a national interest high-impact 

10 transmission facility. 

11 ‘‘(G) RELIABILITY STANDARD.—The term 

12 ‘reliability standard’ has the meaning given the 

13 term in section 215(a). 

14 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL INTEREST

15 HIGH-IMPACT TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A project sponsor or 

17 project State may submit to the Secretary an 

18 application to designate a transmission facility 

19 as a national interest high-impact transmission 

20 facility for purposes of paragraph (3). 

21 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF APPLICATIONS.—An 

22 application submitted under subparagraph (A) 

23 shall provide information on— 

24 ‘‘(i) a specific geographic area that is 

25 experiencing, or is expected to experience, 


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1 electric energy transmission capacity con2 straints or congestion that adversely af3 fects consumers; 

4 ‘‘(ii) how the proposed transmission 

5 facility would alleviate the electric energy 

6 transmission capacity constraints or con7 gestion described in clause (i); 

8 ‘‘(iii) the boundary of the proposed 

9 transmission facility and the rationale for 

10 that boundary; 

11 ‘‘(iv) the voltage, transmission capac12 ity, and route of the proposed transmission 

13 facility; 

14 ‘‘(v) how the proposed transmission 

15 facility is expected to affect costs to con16 sumers to purchase electricity; and 

17 ‘‘(vi) any other matter that the Sec18 retary determines necessary to carry out 

19 subparagraph (C), including by providing 

20 any data that the Secretary determines 

21 necessary to carry out that subparagraph. 

22 ‘‘(C) DEADLINE.—Not later than 90 days 

23 after receiving a complete application under 

24 subparagraph (A), the Secretary, after con25 sultation with affected States, local authorities, 


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1 and Indian Tribes, shall approve the application 

2 and designate the applicable transmission facil3 ity as a national interest high-impact trans4 mission facility if the Secretary determines 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(i) the proposed transmission facil7 ity— 

8 ‘‘(I) is, or will be, in the national 

9 interest, based on the criteria other10 wise applicable to a national interest 

11 electric transmission corridor under 

12 subsection (a)(4); 

13 ‘‘(II) is, or will be after construc14 tion or modification, capable of trans15 mitting electricity at a voltage of not 

16 less than 345 kilovolts; 

17 ‘‘(III)(aa) adds not less than 750 

18 megawatts of new transmission capac19 ity within a single linear path or 

20 right-of-way; or 

21 ‘‘(bb) would increase the existing 

22 transmission capacity within a single 

23 linear path or right-of-way by not less 

24 than 750 megawatts; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) the proposed transmission 

2 facility crosses or will cross— 

3 ‘‘(aa) the exterior boundary 

4 of not fewer than 2 States; or 

5 ‘‘(bb) the exterior boundary 

6 of at least 1 State and the outer 

7 Continental Shelf; and 

8 ‘‘(V) provides, or will provide 

9 after construction or modification, for 

10 the reliable operation of the bulk11 power system, including through com12 pliance with any applicable reliability 

13 standard approved by the Commission 

14 under section 215(d); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the project sponsor has met mile16 stones, established by the Secretary under 

17 subparagraph (E), that demonstrate that 

18 the project sponsor is capable of com19 pleting the construction or modification of 

20 the proposed transmission facility. 

21 ‘‘(D) APPLICABILITY OF THE NATIONAL

22 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969.—The 

23 designation of a transmission facility as a na24 tional interest high-impact transmission facility 

25 under this paragraph shall not be considered a 


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1 major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) 

2 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

3 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 

4 ‘‘(E) RULEMAKING.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

6 180 days after the date of enactment of 

7 this subsection, the Secretary shall promul8 gate a regulation establishing a process to 

9 evaluate applications submitted under sub10 paragraph (A), which shall include estab11 lishing milestones for purposes of subpara12 graph (C)(ii). 

13 ‘‘(ii) MILESTONES.—In carrying out 

14 clause (i), the Secretary may establish 

15 milestones that are indicative of the real16 istic ability of a project sponsor to com17 plete the development process with respect 

18 to a transmission project and make the ap19 plicable transmission facility operational, 

20 such as development of a construction 

21 plan, the making of investment decisions, 

22 and other milestones that, in the deter23 mination of the Secretary, are pertinent to 

24 the ability of a project sponsor to successVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:39 Apr 06, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4027.IS S4027

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1 fully make the applicable facility oper2 ational. 

3 ‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION PERMITS FOR NATIONAL

4 INTEREST HIGH-IMPACT TRANSMISSION FACILI5 TIES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) PERMIT APPLICATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A project sponsor, 

8 or a project State on behalf of a project 

9 sponsor, may submit to the Commission an 

10 application for a permit to construct or 

11 modify a national interest high-impact 

12 transmission facility. 

13 ‘‘(ii) FORM.—Permit applications sub14 mitted under clause (i) shall be made in 

15 writing to the Commission. 

16 ‘‘(iii) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 

17 180 days after the date of enactment of 

18 this subsection, the Commission shall pro19 mulgate regulations specifying— 

20 ‘‘(I) the form of, and information 

21 to be included in, an application sub22 mitted under clause (i); and 

23 ‘‘(II) the manner of service of no24 tice of the application on interested 

25 persons. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PREAPPLICATION DISCUSSIONS; COM2 MISSION PROCEEDINGS.—With respect to an 

3 application submitted under subparagraph 

4 (A)(i), the Commission may carry out 

5 preapplication discussions with the project 

6 sponsor (and 1 or more project States, as appli7 cable) and initiate a Commission proceeding for 

8 purposes of subparagraph (C) at the same time 

9 that any State commission or other entity that 

10 has authority to approve the siting of the appli11 cable transmission facility considers an applica12 tion for a permit to construct or modify the 

13 transmission facility pursuant to applicable law. 

14 ‘‘(C) CONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—Except as 

15 provided in subsection (i), the Commission may, 

16 after notice and an opportunity for a hearing 

17 on an application submitted under subpara18 graph (A)(i), issue a permit for the construction 

19 or modification of the national interest high-im20 pact transmission facility that is the subject of 

21 the application if the Commission finds that 

22 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of subsection 

23 (b)(1) is satisfied with respect to the national 

24 interest high-impact transmission facility.’’. 

25 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) SITING OF INTERSTATE ELECTRIC TRANS2 MISSION FACILITIES.—Section 216 of the Federal 

3 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended— 

4 (A) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘or 

5 (l)(3)(C)’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)’’; 

6 (B) in subsection (e)(1)— 

7 (i) by inserting ‘‘or (l)(3)(C)’’ after 

8 ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘or a State’’; and 

10 (C) in subsection (i)(3), by inserting ‘‘any 

11 national interest high-impact transmission fa12 cilities designated under subsection (l)(2) and 

13 any’’ after ‘‘including’’. 

14 (2) TRANSMISSION FACILITY FINANCING.—Sec15 tion 50151(b) of Public Law 117–169 (42 U.S.C. 

16 18715(b)) is amended— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘facilities designated by the 

18 Secretary to be necessary in the national inter19 est under section 216(a) of the Federal Power 

20 Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(a)).’’ and inserting the 

21 following: ‘‘facilities— 

22 ‘‘(1) located in an area designated as a national 

23 interest electric transmission corridor pursuant to 

24 subsection (a) of section 216 of the Federal Power 

25 Act (16 U.S.C. 824p); or 


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1 ‘‘(2) designated by the Secretary as national in2 terest high-impact transmission facilities under sub3 section (l)(2) of that section.’’. 

4 (3) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.—Section 

5 40106(h)(1) of the Infrastructure Investment and 

6 Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18713(h)(1)) is amended— 

7 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘16 U.S.C. 824p(a)’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘(16 U.S.C. 824p(a))’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

11 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 

12 after the semicolon at the end; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(C) is a national interest high-impact trans15 mission facility designated under subsection (l)(2) of 

16 section 216 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

17 824p);’’. 

Æ 


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